Contact:
Klaus Raunela
+358 40 553 4948
email

Any comments, ideas or questions related to running a Maserati or some other exotic car on a budget are welcome. Just drop me an Email and I'll post your comments here. I'd be interested to read how others manage to keep a Maser alive with a reasonable budget. If you wonder how to find a cheaper alternative to some original spare part, drop in a question. I or someone else might already have done that and can give you an answer. At least I'd be happy to give my best guess what would work.

Many thanks for all the positive feedback I have received. Seems that there are many Maserati drivers around not willing to pay for original spare part prices.

New lamps

A gentleman from Sweden owning a 228 with 60000 km:s on the clock asked whether I had extra rear lamps and front turn signals which I unfortunately do not. Due to  my unfluent Swedish the conversation did not went far enough for me to find out whether his car was missing the lamps completely or just some of them or if they had just faded during the years.

If it is just the condition of the lamps, they can usually be restored very well by spraying a coat of clear laquer over them and have the metal reflector surfaces chromed. The laquer makes the plastic clear and shiny clean insides completes the new-like appearance.

If lamps are damaged I would certainly consider some other lamps because the 228 originals must be scarce and expensive. After all there are only 469 cars made. For the rear I might build a similar setup that can be seen in a Nissan Skyline GTR, ie. make a fiberglass panel on the place of the original lamps with holes for round lamps and sprayed to match the body colour. In the front a cover with holes to mach some small round turn signal lights and front lamps again in body colour or alternatively matching the driving lamp frame colour. Round rear lamps are used in some cars and you can also get general type approved round rear lamps and turn signal lights. Small turn signal lights are used in motorcycles and general ones can be found easily. Type approved of course. These modifications can be made without any modifications to the car itself. The quality of the original lamps is quite bad so the modifications would also improve reliability, especially with the rear lamps.

Of course I understand if someone wants to keep his car completely original. For me it would not be worth the cost.

Fuel filters and a oil plug seal

I sure am happy to be able to do things myself instead of paying big money to others. Another gentleman from Sweden also driving a 228 was considering to do some maintenance by himself having paid around the equivalent of 1500 € for the timing belt change. Assuming a specialist does the job in six hours I needed, they charge more than a well paid business executive for their time even after subtracting the belt and possibly the tensioner.

But to the actual question of where to find fuel filters and oil drain plug seal, my answe was:

It happens that you are asking for spare parts that I have never had to
replace in any of the numerous cars I have worked with, ever.

The fuel filter before the fuel pump can be any general filter with hose
connectors. The only thing that matters is that it's made for the same
hose diameter. More than likely you will be able to find one from your
nearest spare parts shop and probably costs less than SEK 100. The filter
after the fuel pump according to rockauto.com is FRAM Part # G3713
{In-Line Gasoline Filter} priced $9.34. Just take the old ones with you
when you go buy new ones and you'll get the right ones.

Both filters have a large filtering capacity and with todays clean fuels
the filters will probably last the lifetime of the car. I have heard that
some manufacturers have dropped the filter from the maintenance schedule
because changing them is simply unnecessary. Different story in the US I
have read though.

If your filter is clogged there is probably something wrong, most likely
rust in the tank. Maybe I've been lucky but I have never seen a clogged
fuel filter.

It is also very unlikely that a re-used oil plug seal would leak. At least
I have never experienced such. Again, you should be able to find one from
your nearest spare parts shop as long as you know the inner diameter of
the seal. Costs a coin or two. If the old one is made of copper, you can
make it soft again by heating it with a lighter flame until it glows red
and let it cool down slowly.

Tie rod boot

Since I have received a couple emails about the tie rod boot, I would like to clarify that by generic I mean that the boot was a universal fit, not made for any specific car. My local spare parts shop sold me one that had two or three different diameters on both ends so it fits most cars.